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No, pretty sure Shun just uses layered steel... VG10 in the center, then like 8 alternating layers of softer cladding. When the knife is ground down the layers are revealed and you get that (ugly) striated pattern instead of the much more interesting patterns DT and all the other guys around here make.

Thanks David; it is becoming clearer -- though there is still a bit of mystery to me. In the link in the original post at the bottom they even show how they can put company logos into the pattern. That seems strange.

Anyhow, I have a damasteel parer coming from Pierre, so I guess I will have an opportunity to try some damasteel out sooner or later.

k.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States...nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -- Isaac Asimov

I spent a week in a German custom knifemaker's shop a few years ago taking a class from him. As part of the project I made a hunting knife from scratch using Damasteel. This included heat treating the blade in his gas forge. While the knife is very nice looking, I've never felt it held a particularly good edge but that might just be my amature heat treating efforts.

No, pretty sure Shun just uses layered steel... VG10 in the center, then like 8 alternating layers of softer cladding. When the knife is ground down the layers are revealed and you get that (ugly) striated pattern instead of the much more interesting patterns DT and all the other guys around here make.

Shun also just etches the pattern into the cladding, no layering at all. Just a laser drawing on the knife.

Thanks David; it is becoming clearer -- though there is still a bit of mystery to me. In the link in the original post at the bottom they even show how they can put company logos into the pattern. That seems strange.

Lots of smiths can put your logo or coat of arms or pretty little butterflies in the steel if they want. You EDM the parts out, slip them together, and weld them.

And Noodle Soup, heat treating any stainless in your gas forge is not the way to do it. The forge is fine for simple carbon steels that don't require any soak time, but complex steels (and stainless steels are complex) need more control. Damasteel is a quality product and will work as well as many stainless steels, but it does require a proper heat treat in a controlled atmosphere and with controlled temperatures.

I agree 100% with David and Devin. There are issues with distortion of the pattern on wide blades, near the edges. It is closer to CPM154, essentially Udderholm's powder metalurgy process. It is a PITA to etch, it holds an edge similar to CPM154 if the HT is done correctly, and no, doing the HT in a forge is not the way to do it. There are some patterns, that are suited to thicker blades, hunters and fighters, some folders, and only a few that look good on a thin blade.